Page 83 - 100 Events That Made History

Emperor of the Romans
In 800 CE, Charlemagne was ruler of most of western
Europe. On Christmas Day that year, Pope Leo III
crowned him EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS.
The coronation enraged Byzantine Empress
Irene in Constantinople, but she could do
nothing to stop it. Charlemagne was officially
the “Father of Europe.”

Here, the monk
Rabanus Maurus
(left) and Alcuin
(middle) are
presenting
their work
to Archbishop
Odgar of Mainz.

The Carolingian Renaissance
Charlemagne could not read, but he knew the
power of education. He surrounded himself
with top scholars, such as the historian Alcuin of
York. Monastic schools grew up across the
empire, where monks hand-copied precious
LATIN MANUSCRIPTS. Under Charlemagne,
art, literature, music, and learning all flourished.

By the way…
My military campaigns Charlemagne united most of what
doubled the size of the
How it changed the world
Frankish kingdom!

would eventually become France,
and the eastern part of his
empire later formed the core
of the future Germany. His
promotion of learning and

a leader could improve
the lives of his subjects.
What came after… education helped to show how

Charlemagne wanted Many of Charlemagne’s
a standard script used descendants, and later
in books across his powerful rulers, were
empire. The resulting crowned “Emperor of the
CAROLINGIAN MINISCULE Romans” or “Holy Roman
was the basis of our Emperor.” OTTO THE GREAT
lowercase alphabet. was the first in 962.
81